PHILADELPHIA – The Eastern Conference finals became a series last night. The home team lost despite the city becoming “Allen-town” as it has so often this season.

See, it wasn’t Philadelphia’s Allen, as in Iverson, who grabbed the game by the throat. It was Milwaukee’s Allen, as in Ray Allen.

Ray Allen banged in seven 3-pointers and scored a career playoff-high 38 points, continually hitting big shots to thwart Sixer attempted rallies, and the Bucks evened the series at one game apiece with a 92-78 victory over Philadelphia, which was crippled by an ailing Allen Iverson’s disastrous 5-of-26 shooting.

Allen, who had notched a personal playoff best in Game 1 with 31, eclipsed that mark with a pretty drive with 8:23 to go. But the story for the Bucks was the 3-point shot. Allen, the All-Star long distance shooting champ, was 7-of-11 on trifectas, 15-of-24 overall. He added six assists and six rebounds. Milwaukee hit 10 3-pointers, but despite head coach George Karl’s recent complaints was outshot 30-6 from the foul line.

“Ray threw a lot of daggers at the them,” said Karl. “He made drives, he made three pointers he made good decisions. He was a marvelous basketball player, today we needed that, we’re going to need it three more times.”

Iverson, scoring 16 points to equal his playoff low this season, stunk with his shot. Over his last four games, the soul of the Sixer offense averaging 33.0 playoff points has shot a disastrous 32-of-112 (.286) in his last four games. Aaron McKie led the Sixers with 21 points while Dikembe Mutombo added 18 with 20 rebounds. The Bucks took a healthy lead early and – amid public potshots by both sides – kept their starters in late. Glenn Robinson scored 16 points and Sam Cassell added 14 with 11 assists.

“He’s hurt,” Sixers coach Larry Brown said of Iverson, who has a sprained thumb and bruised tailbone. “The kid has some incredible heart and he’s trying to play though it, and it’s difficult to do that.”

Karl kept providing some controversial comments about virtually everything Philadelphia – he got in a dig at Iverson before the game, noting the guard’s penchant for playing entire games, noting “Allen playing 48 minutes, he’s got to rest somewhere and I don’t see him resting on the offensive end of the court.” Couple that with Karl’s shots about Mutombo, the Sixer defense, the free-throw disparity and, by gum, there are all the makings of a rivalry here. Brown fired back as the two coaches did their best Phil Jackson-Pat Riley impressions.

“You never know what George is going to say. He’s always entertaining. Sometimes, it’s ‘Oh no, coach. What have you done now?'” said forward Scott Williams, a former Sixer who rated Philly’s fans as among the least knowledgeable (“I don’t think they understand the game”). “George is a master of the mind games at this point of the season. He likes to engage in a lot of that stuff and send the first salvo over to the opposing locker room. He got started here really quickly.”